Making butt box joints – Festool Domino DF 500 User Manual

Page 14

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14

Domino DF 500 Tenon Joiner

Making Butt Box Joints

Butt box joints are typically used in general box
construction or for drawer construction. The Domino
tenons strengthen the joint without the need for additional
fasteners. The example below highlights drawer
construction, but the same techniques are used on other
types of box construction.

Construction Tips

For drawer construction with a separate drawer front,
the front and rear of the box should be Captive, as
shown below.

The drawer front is installed onto the drawer box
after the box has been assembled.

This increases the strength of the drawer because
the tenons are in shear (perpendicular) to the
operation of opening and closing the drawer.

The ends of the side boards are concealed by the
separate drawer front.

For drawer construction without a separate drawer
front, the Sides should be Captive and the Front/Rear
should be the Caps (the reverse of the image below).

For cabinet carcase construction, the Top/Bottom of the
carcase should be Captive (also see

Making Carcase

Butt Joints

on page 17).

Machining the Captive-Side Tenons

1.

Choose a Domino tenon size to be less than or equal to
1/3 of the board’s thickness.

2.

Set the height of the fence so the Domino tenons are in
the center of the board’s thickness.

3.

Set the mortise depth according to the instructions on
page 9.

Note that if your workpieces are thin, you may need
to offset the tenon from center as shown in the
picture on page 9.

For very thin material that you use frequently for
drawer sides, you may consider setting up a special
plunge depth stop described on page 19.

4.

Clamp the Captive boards flat to your workbench.

5.

Align the tenon position using the locating pins (refer to
the picture on page 11).

6.

Grasp the Domino joiner by the auxiliary handle, hold it
firmly down to the workpiece, and slowly plunge the
cutter into the edge of the workpiece.

Machining the Cap-Side Tenons

1.

Don’t change the fence height from the previous
operation. It is used to register the mortise placement
from the edge of the board.

2.

Install the Base Support Bracket as described on page
12.

3.

If necessary, change the mortise depth setting.

4.

Clamp the workpiece in a vertical position as shown.

5.

When plunging, grasp the Domino joiner at the Base
Support Bracket and hold it firmly against the face of
the workpiece.

WARNING! To reduce the risk of injury from
contact with a moving mortising bit, keep hands
clear of the back of the workpiece in case the
mortising bit cuts all the way through the board.

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